Hurriyat should be included in dialogue process: Aiyar
Srinagar, Aug 25: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Saturday that Hurriyat should be included in every dialogue process, adding that Article 35A must remain a part of the Constitution to ensure that the people of Kashmir do not feel threatened.
Aiyar was delivering a lecture at a seminar organized by the Centre for Peace and Progress in summer capital Srinagar.
"A right that Kashmiris have for the last so many years should remain with them so that they do not feel threatened," he said.
"It is in our Constitution and one must not make any attempt to revoke it. Some people are unnecessarily raking up the issue which is not in anyone's interest," he said.
"The matter is in the Supreme Court, but I hope the court would take the national interest into account before taking any decision," Aiyar said.
Later, talking to reporters, Aiyar said: "When we came here in May last year, we had invited the Hurriyat. We met everyone who was ready to meet us. We could not meet Yasin Malik. Yesterday, I got a friend to call him saying I was coming again, if I could meet him. He replied saying that he would meet me in Delhi and not here."
"I agree with you that Hurriyat should also be included in all the dialogues. Dialogues should be held with everyone. I also know many Kashmiris who want to be with India. I consider Kashmiris as one of my own and myself as one of them," he added.
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Two held for 'firing' at BJP leader's house in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day before the counting of votes for the West Bengal assembly elections, two persons were arrested on Sunday for allegedly being involved in a firing incident outside the residence of a BJP leader in North 24 Parganas district, police said.
BJP leader Kundan Singh lodged a police complaint, alleging that a few gunmen fired at his house in the Noapara constituency around Saturday midnight.
Based on the CCTV footage, the two accused were apprehended, a senior officer said.
BJP's Noapara candidate Arjun Singh, in a post on social media, claimed that around 12.05 am, two armed miscreants arrived on a motorcycle at the residence of Kundan Singh, a BJP functionary and secretary of the Barrackpore organisational district, with an "intent to kill him".
According to the BJP leader, the accused are residents of Garulia and are known criminals.
Their names as offenders had been submitted to the Election Commission, he said.
The police officer did not specify whether the two arrested persons were the same individuals named by Arjun Singh.
According to the complaint, one round of firing took place outside Kundan Singh's house, triggering panic in the area.
The BJP candidate also questioned the role of the police, claiming that one of the accused had been detained by the police on the polling day but was later released in the evening.
The Noapara assembly seat went to the polls on April 29.
Several BJP leaders alleged that attempts were being made to create an atmosphere of fear ahead of the counting and weaken the organisation of the opposition parties.
The counting of votes will take place on May 4. Polling for the West Bengal assembly elections was held on April 23 and April 29.
The BJP urged the Election Commission to intervene immediately to ensure peaceful counting.
TMC candidate Somnath Shyam rubbished Arjun Singh’s allegation, claiming that the BJP nominee had orchestrated the firing incident to divert attention from imminent defeat.
“Arjun Singh knows all the gangsters in the Barrackpore belt. Everyone knows about his links with the underworld. Let the police investigate the incident,” Shyam said.
